1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to vehicle window systems and more particularly to an attachment system for coupling a vehicle window to a window regulator.
2. Discussion
The methods and devices for attaching vehicle windows to various window regulator systems vary widely due to differences in the configuration of the vehicle body, the amount of support which the window regulator must provide the vehicle window and the need to access the components of the window-to-regulator attaching system to install or adjust the vehicle window and/or attaching hardware. Most methods for installing vehicle windows attach the vehicle window to the window regulator when the window is in a lowered position, typically in a range between a fully down position and a three-quarters down position. While this position permits the assembly technician to easily access the window regulator, the vehicle window and the components of the attachment system, several drawbacks have been noted.
One such drawback is that this range of positions does not typically align the vehicle window to the window guide channels due to vehicle-to-vehicle variation. Improperly aligned vehicle windows typically cause excessive cranking efforts, leading to premature window regulator and window seal wear. In order to detect an improperly aligned vehicle window, the assembly technician must try-out the fit of the vehicle window to the window guide channels by raising the vehicle window into the fully up position.
If an improperly aligned vehicle window is detected and a decision is made to attempt to adjust the vehicle window within acceptable tolerances, the assembly technician must lower the vehicle window to permit access to the attachment system and window regulator as the components of the attachment system are typically inaccessible when the vehicle window is in the fully up position. As such, the alignment process is highly dependent on the experience and intuition of the assembly technician to infer not only the cause of the misalignment, but also the magnitude of the adjustment that must be made. The process of aligning the vehicle window to the window guide channels frequently is made through several iterative steps and as such, can be highly labor intensive. It is worth noting that due to the iterative nature of the alignment process, the realignment process is frequently not attempted when misaligned vehicle windows are detected.
Several automatically adjustable attachment systems have been developed, but as these systems also require the vehicle window to be attached to the window regulator in a three-quarters down position, they frequently suffer from the problems associated with misalignment.